Monday, September 05, 2011

Another Reason for Phils' Fans to Boo Joe West

For what it's worth, if it's a battle of who's telling the truth -- West or Phillies' skipper Charlie Manuel -- well, given West's history and history with the Phillies, I'd bet on Manuel.

That said, it's hard to win a protest like this, and the ruling on the field in all likelihood will stand.

But what MLB should do is review the rule, generally, so as not to let the home team benefit from the interference rules. Quite frankly, the rule should be construed against the home team, which has a better ability to control the fans than the visiting team. Since the home team has the better ability to control the risk, it should bear the burden of its fans' behavior. So, in this case, Pence's batted ball should have been ruled a hit. The rules committee can further develop the rules to determine what discretion the crew chief would have to call it a double or a home run. But to let the home team benefit from interference seems ludicrous.

Then again, to let the Phillies' benefit from a) poor planning by not having enough relievers because of some noble notion that it doesn't want to deplete its playoff-bound AAA team from glory at the expense of burning its bullpen and jeopardizing a world championship and b) having David Herndon pitch horridly (albeit after the fact) might not be wise either. Put differently, the Phillies had their chances yesterday, but they didn't capitalize.

Still, the rule should be examined in the context of whether to permit the home team to benefit. A shout out to Phil on the morning/afternoon weekend show on 97.5 the Fanatic for emphasizing this point yesterday.

3 Comments:

I tend to agree with your analysis of this Pence moment except for one minor detail. The two fans involved in the play were Phillies fans. One was holding a red cap out to try to catch the ball. Both wore Phillies shirts or gear. You're asking the Marlins (as home team) to police the behavior or visiting fans. This becomes increasingly problematic with teams like the Phillies, whose fans like to travel to see the team play. Manuel's point deserves some recognition. You can't assume an out. It was a tough play for the rightfielder and evenif he gets his glove on the bal (as seemed likely) banging against the outfield wall may have jarred the ball loose. The ball should have been ruled a hit because it was never caught.